Gaddafi threatened oil spill off Malta in 2011

Gaddafi loyalists threatened to spill 250,000 barrels of gasoline off Malta’s shores from a Libyan tanker caught up in the middle of UN sanctions in June 2011, The Sunday Times of Malta can reveal.

It would have been catastrophic- Gonzi

“It would have been catastrophic,” then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said recalling the potential incident, which had at its centre a vessel carrying a scarce commodity to war-torn Libya.

It is one of the many untold stories from the 2011 Libyan uprising, a time when neighbouring Malta played a pivotal role. The island’s neutrality barred it from taking part in military operations, except for providing a safe base for aircraft caught up in emergencies.

But Dr Gonzi’s disclosure of the one-month saga, as told to The Sunday Times of Malta, showed the way backroom negotiations in Valletta helped to destabilise the Gaddafi regime.

The ship in question was the Cartagena, owned by General National Maritime Transport Corporation, a Libyan Government entity controlled by Muammar Gaddafi’s son Hannibal.

The ship had picked up its cargo of 30,000 tons of fuel in Turkey. The Swiss company that sold the fuel claimed it had been duped into selling it despite the UN sanctions since it indicated Tripoli in Lebanon, as the destination.

The Cartagena tried to transport the badly needed fuel to Zawiyah, a Gaddafi-controlled town and the main oil port adjacent to the Libyan capital.

While the Cartagena was en route, Nato diverted it on grounds that the fuel would be used for military purposes.

The tanker was anchored on Hurd’s Bank just 10 miles off Malta on June 30, 2011, when Dr Gonzi received a message.

“The threat came directly from the Libyan authorities, and it was real. They would sabotage the ship and leak the fuel out into Maltese waters. It would have been a disaster,” Dr Gonzi said.

A message from Tripoli read: “The captain sent an SOS claiming to be under duress and may have to empty fuel cargo into the sea.”

An oil spill in the Mediterranean would trigger an ecological disaster and bring Malta’s reverse osmosis plants to a halt, together with major economic repercussions.

On June 30 in the morning, an anti- Gaddafi Libyan crew arrived at Malta’s airport and sailed to Hurd’s Bank to take charge of the ship. The plan to storm the ship had been planned in advance.

Just two weeks earlier, Dr Gonzi received an e-mail from Mustafa Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, requesting “assistance in helping Captain AB* to take char[g]e of the vessel Cartagena and permit him to sail to Tobruk in the eastern part of Libya”.

There was no information about the way the captain was going to arrive in Malta.

Before this request, close to midnight on June 12, the Libyan tugboat MV Al Mergheb, with a crew of 12 Libyan nationals was escorted to Grand Harbour after being boarded and searched by the Armed Forces of Malta.

The tugboat requested to enter Maltese waters, claiming it was short of supplies and diesel, and had problems with the propeller. Captain AB was on this vessel, but only a couple of persons were aware he was supporting the revolution and his plans to take charge of the Cartagena.

The crew got into an altercation and Captain AB was nowhere to be seen. Finally, the crew opted to join the revolution, but were unaware why they came to Malta. The Al Mergheb left on June 18 to Tunisia, taking with them an ambulance, an X-Ray machine and other assistance donated by Maltese NGOs.

On June 28, the NTC informed the Office of the Prime Minister it was planning to send a crew by air to Malta from Benghazi on June 30, accompanied by a senior NTC official, so they could take charge of the ship.

The Maltese Government facilitated the transit of the persons concerned through Malta by making arrangements with Nato to allow them to fly, despite the no-fly zone.

“We did not participate in the operation. My position was constant. I said we would provide the logistics necessary for any event required in accordance with UN resolutions,” Dr Gonzi said.

Dr Gonzi said his government believed the delivery of the Cartagena to Tripoli would have given a much needed injection to Gaddafi loyalists. The sanctions had depleted fuel for Gaddafi’s tanks and vehicles and the regime was in a panic.

When the Benghazi crew reached the Cartagena, they requested to board the ship. Gaddafi loyalists refused and managed to take the upper hand. The alarm was raised in Tripoli and that was when the oil spill threat was made.

The crew aborted the operation, returned to Malta and flew back to Benghazi. Meanwhile, the Cartagena left Hurd’s Bank and made an unsuccessful attempt to berth in Algeria, before returning to anchor off Malta.

On the night between August 2 and 3, stationed just outside Maltese territorial waters, the ship was stormed by two vessels steered by rebels and assisted by a contingent of naval special forces.

The Libyan authorities loyal to Gaddafi tried to apply pressure on Malta to stop the vessel but it was in vain.

A Maltese army ship shadowed the vessel and followed it until it had left the country’s search and rescue area. Accompanied by Nato vessels, the oil-laden vessel arrived in Benghazi on August 4, 2011.

“This event proved to be a turning point for both sides. The revolutionaries knew this as well and they went to extremes to prevent this cargo reaching the fuel-thirsty forces of the regime,” Dr Gonzi said.

“Barely three weeks later, the world witnessed the fall of Tripoli. On August 24, the revolutionaries drove into Libya’s capital and the regime collapsed in a manner which took everyone by surprise. I am convinced Malta’s role in this single, but not unique, event had once again proved to be pivotal for the final outcome.”

*Names have been changed to protect the captain’s identity.